Configuring Windows processing servers for your data source

When started on Windows, the report processing servers—Report Job Servers, Program Job Servers, Page Servers, and Report Application Servers—by default log on to the local system as services with the Windows NT/2000 "LocalSystem" account. This account determines the permissions that each service is granted on the local machine. This account does not grant the service any network permissions.

In the majority of cases, this account is irrelevant in relation to the server's task of processing reports against your data source. (The database logon credentials are stored with the report object.) Thus, you can usually leave each server's default logon account unchanged or, if you prefer, you can change it to a Windows user account with the appropriate permissions.

However, there are certain cases when you must change the logon account used by the processing servers. These cases arise either because the server needs additional network permissions to access the database, or because the database client software is configured for a particular Windows user account. This table lists the various database/ driver combinations and shows when you must complete additional configuration.

Tip:    If your reports require ODBC connections, set up identical System Data Source Names (DSNs) on each machine that is running a processing server. Ensure that each of these DSNs matches the DSN that was used when the report was designed.

Database	Driver	Additional Configuration Required
Oracle	Native ODBC (CROR8) OLE DB	None
Sybase	Native ODBC (CRSYB)	None
Lotus Domino	Native	None
Microsoft SQL Server	Native ODBC (CRSS) OLE DB	If you use SQL Server's "Trusted Connection" setting, change each server's log on account to a Windows user account that has permissions within the database. (In this case, the database logon credentials stored with the report object should be blank.)
DB2	Native	None
DB2	ODBC (CRDB2)	For on-demand viewing, configure the Page Server and RAS to close idle jobs after one minute, thereby allowing other users to access the database. For details, see Modifying Page Server performance settings. Tip:    IBM offers several client applications for connecting to DB2. The recommended client is IBM DB2 Direct Connect, whose ODBC drivers were written for actual programmatic interaction with products like Crystal Enterprise. See the Crystal Care Knowledge Base for discussions of this and other DB2 clients.
Informix	Native	Change the log on account for each processing server to the account under which the Informix client was installed. Add the Informix bin directory to the System Path (for example, C:\Informix\bin) environment variable.
Informix	ODBC (CRINF9)	Change the log on account for each processing server to the Windows user account under which the Informix client was installed. For on-demand viewing, configure the Page Server and RAS to close idle jobs after one minute, thereby allowing other users to access the database. For details, see Modifying Page Server performance settings.
Microsoft Exchange		Ensure that the Exchange profile is set up on the local machine. Change the log on account of each processing server to the Windows user account that has access to the mailbox in which the report data is located.
PC databases (Btrieve, Microsoft Access, Paradox, XML)	Native, ODBC	If the database is installed on the server's local machine, no additional configuration is required. If the processing server must access the database over the network, change the server's log on account to a Windows domain user account that has the appropriate network permissions. Ensure that the account has READ access to the shared resource.

Tip:    Running a service under an Administrator account does not inadvertently grant administrative privileges to another user, because users cannot impersonate services.

For details on changing the user account for the Job Server or Page Server, see Changing the server user account.